The Sorcerer's Apprentice (original script)/Transcript
The transcript of the eponymous film's original script. Originally posted at screenplayexplorer.com, the site is currently no longer accessible. Transcript INT. SCHOOL BUS (MOVING) – DAY DAVE (10), pensive and sincere, looks out the window and smiles as the bus he's riding in roars into a DARK TUNNEL. TITLE: "WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY - 10 YEARS AGO" DAVE Want to see some magic? Dave's best/only friend OSCAR looks up from his Game Boy. DAVE Close your eyes. OSCAR (through absurd braces) You're not gonna kish me, are you? Dave shoots him a look. Oscar sighs, closes his eyes. So does Dave and so does BECKY (10), a brunette beauty sitting just in front of them. The coolest girl in class, she hardly knows Dave exists. KA-CHUNG! The bus hits a grate -- Dave's cue. He counts under his breath, knows the precise number until: DAVE ...okay ...and ... open your eyes! Dave and Becky open their eyes at the exact instant that the dark tunnel gives way to the majestic, gleaming spires of -- NEW YORK CITY -- The most magical city in the world! OSCAR (back to his Game Boy) That's some pretty lame magic. Becky (O.S.) I thought it was cool. Dave looks up to see Becky smiling at him. Dave smiles nervously back, then grins at a stunned Oscar. INT. MUSEUM OF MODERN ART – DAY Becky stands in silhouette in front of Chagall's "Aleko and Zemphira by Moonlight." A boy and girl levitate together in the night time sky -- a child's dream brought to magical life. A second silhouette steps into frame: Dave. BECKY I love the way they float up like that. I come here a lot with my parents. I like all of the paintings, but I love this one the most... Dave looks at her, falling truly, madly, deeply in love -- and feeling the sudden urge to tell her. DAVE Becky... Becky turns to look at him. Dave trails off, too scared to tell. DAVE ... never mind. The rest of the class floods into the room. As Becky joins her FRIENDS, Dave knows he blew it. EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE – DAY Dave's class gathers around their teacher, MS. ALGAR, in front of the famed WASHINGTON SQUARE ARCH. MS. ALGAR ... this park served as a burial ground in the early 1800's. To this day over 20,000 bodies rest beneath Washington Square... A creeped-out Dave stares at his feet as Mr. Algar points out a desolate-looking ELM TREE. MS. ALGAR ... and this is Hangman's Elm, at 300 years, the oldest tree in Manhattan. Traitors were hanged here during the Revolutionary War... A CREAKING in the withered branches. Just the wind. MOMENTS LATER -- Dave watches Becky from afar. DAVE How do I tell her how amazing she is...? OSCAR Playah, everybody knowsh that. Buy her shomething exshpensive. Dave digs his money out of his pockets. Three bucks. Make that TWO BUCKS as a sudden GUST OF WIND blows a DOLLAR BILL out of his hand! The bill hits the ground. Dave leans over to grab it when a BIKE MESSENGER runs over it. The bill sticks to the tire. DAVE Hey, stop! The bike keeps going. Dave runs after the bike, out onto Third Street, where the bill falls of the tire... And gets snatched up by a FRENCH POODLE! DAVE Ma'am, your dog! Stop!! But the JOGGING WOMAN can't hear over her headphones. Dave chases the dog down a brick lane lined with eclectic shops. The dog spits out the bill and keeps going. Dave pulls up, breathing hard. He leans over to pick up the bill, then straightens up to find himself looking at --- THE RING... ... an unusual ring on display in a shop window. The band is silver, an ancient design; the "gem" is a gray stone that's been carved into a long, intricate DRAGON. Dave notices the shop's design: "ARCANA CABANA - ANTIQUITIES, OBSCURITIES, UNUSUAL GIFTS - BALTHAZAR BLAKE, PROPRIETOR." The street has gone eerily quiet. Dave feels an urge to go back the way he came, but drawn by the promise of "Unusual Gifts," he walks into the store, going past-- THE CAR -- parked at the curb, a gleaming monster in black and chrome: The 1930 BENTLEY SPEED 6 CORSICA... INT. ARCANA CABANA – CONTINUES Turns out "unusual" is an understatement. The shop is narrow but deep, and packed with all manner of strange object: An EGYPTIAN MUMMY CASE... weird EXPRESSIONISTIC PAINTINGS... CALIGARI-ESQUE FURNITURE... a yellow-eyed STUFFED OWL that casts weird, animated shadows on the wall... Dave FEELS SOMEONE WATCHING HIM, whirls around to see -- A MACABRE URN. Two feet tall, it looks hand-printed by Hieronymus Bosch: TORMENTED SOULS and terrifying MONSTER MEN writhe in agony in a nightmare landscape... Dave is about to touch the urn's ornate lid when -- A HAND snatches his wrist! Dave GASPS, looks up to see... BALTHAZAR BLAKE (40) knows how to make an entrance. Tall and grim, eyes ringed in black, he wears a long black coat adorned with cryptic ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS. A goth-rock Lord Byron... And as Byron himself was once described, Balthazar gives every impression of being "mad, bad and dangerous to know." BALTHAZAR (off the urn) You break that one and we both buy it. (releases Dave's hand) Looking for something in particular? DAVE (freaked) Just a gift... for someone special. Balthazar cocks an eyebrow. He steps behind a display case and picks up a blood-colored, heart-shaped GLASS JAR. BALTHAZAR This jar held the hearts of Anthony and Cleopatra for a thousand years... until they turned to dust. Dave smiles awkwardly, unsure how to respond. BALTHAZAR What, a jar stuffed with the disembodied hearts of history's greatest lovers not romantic enough for you? Gee, I'm sorry, I'm fresh out of promise rings! DAVE It's not that. It's just... (nervous; deflecting) Hey, that's a cool ring! BALTHAZAR'S RING -- is indeed cool, and very unusual: a luminous GREEN DIAMOND set in an intricate Gothic setting. Is it a trick of the light or does the ring fleetingly GLOW? DAVE The way it catches the light... BALTHAZAR (knowingly) Yeah... look at that. Balthazar looks up, stares intently at Dave, appraising him. BALTHAZAR I do have another ring... Balthazar goes to the front window and grabs the unusual DRAGON RING we saw earlier. He holds out the ring to Dave. DAVE Go ahead... try it on. Dave stares at the ring, feels its strange pull... then sees Balthazar standing over him, staring like a madman. Dave gasps, steps back -- right into a GLASS CISTERN that CRASHES to the floor! Water and glass go flying. Dave looks up in horror as Balthazar advances. DAVE Was -- was that valuable? BALTHAZAR The last drops of water from the Lost City of Atlantis? Gee, what do you think, Dave?! DAVE How'd you know my name is -- BALTHAZAR Show me your hands. Dave stammers, confused. BALTHAZAR Show me your hands! Dave panics, shuts his eyes and holds out his hands, fearing the worst. He feels something, opens his eyes to see... A WOODEN MOP -- lies across his hands. Balthazar heads for the stairs at the back of the shop. BALTHAZAR I want the floor shined, the shelves dusted and the windows spotless. The cobwebs sway. Dave bolts for the door but the DEADBOLT has been locked with a key. He BANGS on the door in vain. ON THE STAIRS -- Balthazar drops a KEY in his pocket. BALTHAZAR I'll be in my study. DAVE You can't keep me here! My class will be looking for me! The door to Balthazar's study SLAMS SHUT. DAVE Please let them be looking for me. Dave looks around the shop, tries hard to breathe. He is so screwed. MOMENTS LATER -- Dave mops to the floor, keeping an eye on every shadow and dark corner, of which there are many. He sees some OLD PHOTOS taped to the wall behind a display case. He leans the mop against a shelf and walks over to the display. The DRAGON RING sits at the end of the case as Dave leans in to see -- THE PHOTOGRAPHS -- are of a raven-haired YOUNG WOMAN, alluring and mysterious. The last photo shows the woman standing in this very shop, joined by an OLD MAN. Suddenly Dave looks down at the case, sees -- THE RING -- is in a different place. Closer to Dave. DAVE Weren't you just over there? Dave stares at the ring, simultaneously repelled and attracted to it. He looks both ways, then picks up the ring. AN ENGRAVING is etched along the gleaming band: DAVE "Take me up..." Dave turns the ring over. On the other side it says: DAVE "Cast me away..." The ring is sitting in the palm of his hand when -- THE DRAGON'S CLAWS AND TAIL -- coil and tighten around his finger! Dave SHOUTS with surprise, grows frantic as he pulls harder and harder -- THE RING IS HAPPY WHERE IT IS. DAVE Come on! Come on!! Dave shakes his hand violently, then looks over to see -- THE MOP -- is moving back and forth in perfect sync! Dave GASPS, freezes. The mop stops bolt upright. Dave moves his hand to the left. The mop SWISHES across the floor to the left. He moves his hand to the right -- again, THE MOP FOLLOWS. The world as Dave knows it has just changed. He's barely begun to process this when -- A SUDDEN KNOCKING SOUND -- spins him around. Persistent and getting louder, it's coming from the back of the shop... A MAHOGANY BOX -- sits on an antique table. The box looks ancient, as does the PADLOCK that secures its lid. THE KNOCKING is coming from inside the box. Dave stares at the box, wary but somehow enthralled. As he lifts his hand to touch the box -- KLINK! The padlock POPS OPEN. Eyes wide with wonder, Dave opens the box... A STRANGE NESTING DOLL -- sits inside. What appears to be a SORCERER of some kind is painted on the outermost doll, in a style that evokes a medieval stained glass. Creepy... ... and entrancing. Dave picks up the doll, curious what the next doll must look like. He doesn't notice as -- THE EYES -- on the DRAGON RING begin to glow. Dave turns the top of the doll, which SNAPS into place. Then he pulls the top from the bottom and -- VOOOSSHHH!!! A TONGUE OF CRIMSON FLAME explodes out of the doll and up to the ceiling. A FIGURE levitates in a bilious smoke. And as the smoke clears... DARK FIGURE Finally, finally... MAXIM HORVATH (40) floats there, an evil sorcerer of the deadliest rank, and a crazed-eyed motherf**er. MAXIM HORVATH ...FREEDOM, BABY!! Dave SCREAMS, music to Horvath's ears. The eyes on his SKULL RING begin to GLOW RED, when suddenly -- WHOOM!!! A SPHERE of highly-ionized, electro-magnetically compressed matter -- what a physicist would recognize as PLASMA, the fourth state of matter -- SLAMS into Horvath and sends him flying. As we'll learn, we've just seen what Stephen Hawking would call a PLASMOID -- and Balthazar Blake, a PLASMA BOLT. Dave turns to see Balthazar on the stairs, his hands splayed out, his RING glowing. BALTHAZAR Bad news? You just freed Maxim Horvath, one of the deadliest sorcerers in history... Dave stares in shock as Balthazar vaults the rail and grabs a large, ancient tome off the shelf -- THE ENCANTUS. BALTHZAR Good news? Only a sorcerer could open that doll. In other words -- Balthazar hands the book to DAVE, who buckles under its weight. Balthazar grins. BALTHZAR -- I just found my new apprentice. Dave stares in horror, unable to imagine worse news than that. BALTHAZAR (off the Encantus) Your homework. Learn it. WHAM!!! AN INVISIBLE FORCE ripples through the air, knocks Balthazar into the wall, cratering it. A CONCUSSION BLAST. MAXIM HORVATH Sorry Blake. Kid's taking an incomplete on this one. Horvath comes at Dave, who drops the book. Suddenly Horvath's eyes light up -- the NESTING DOLL lies in his path. EVIL CHINESE SORCERER is depicted on the next outermost doll. Horvath sees it. Balthazar sees him see it. MAXIM HORVATH The Grimhold! Balthazar and Horvath leap through the air. Balthazar gets there first, spins out of the way as Horvath SMASHES into a display. Balthazar hands the doll to a terrified Dave. BALTHAZAR Whatever you do, keep this safe... NOW GET OUT OF HERE!!! A FAST AND FURIOUS BRAWL erupts in the shop -- and Dave is caught in the middle! As he ducks for cover we catch FLEETING GLIMPSES of PLASMA BOLTS and ANTIQUES large and small flying across the room. Dave is panicked. DAVE This isn't happening... Dave blindly, reflexively throws his RING HAND out -- DAVE GO AWAY!!! THOOM! A SPHERE OF LIGHT rocks the shop, sends Dave flying into the wall. When Dave finally opens his eyes, he's standing -- EXT. ARCANA CABANA - CONTINUOUS Dave GASPS, drops the NESTING DOLL to the sidewalk. MS. ALGAR (O.S.) Young man, where have you been?! Dave turns to see Ms. Algar and his class standing there. He looks back at the shop, trembling. Ms. Algar decides to have a look, but as she heads for the door -- DAVE No!!! Dave nearly tackles her. He is SCREAMING, out-of-his-mind scared, unsettling the class but especially Becky. MS. ALGAR Dave, what's the matter with you?! DAVE You don't know what's in there!!! Ms. Algar brushes him aside, grabs the doorknob and pulls it open, TO REVEAL -- The shop is still and silent and exactly as Dave found it. Dave can't believe it. His classmates look at him as if he were nuts. Suddenly he sees something on a shelf -- THE LIDDED URN -- that Balthazar warned him about, now with two new souls depicted on its painted -- BALTHAZAR AND HORVATH. Dave gasps, turns and runs. As Becky and the others watch him take off down the street... THE NESTING DOLL -- is snatched up by a HOMELESS MAN, who smiles as he tucks it in his ratty coat. EXT. ALLEY – CONTINUOUS POLICE SIRENS echo as Dave huddles against a wall, pulls on the ring as hard as he can -- IT COMES OFF! Dave runs, tosses the ring in a DUMPSTER. QUICK-CUT MONTAGE: - Dave runs up the steps to his modest Brooklyn house... - Dave splashes water on his face, looks at himself in the mirror -- THE RING IS ON HIS FINGER. - Dave stands on a train platform, drops the ring in front of an ONCOMING TRAIN... - Dave opens his school locker. THE RING is there. - In the school basement, Dave throws the ring into a huge FURNACE, sees the ring MELT into a small silver puddle... INT. DAVE'S ROOM – MORNING Dave sleeps with a pillow over his head. ARCADE FIRE'S "WAKE UP" suddenly blares on the alarm as Dave groggily tosses the pillow aside, TO REVEAL -- 20-YEAR OLD DAVE. He sighs, hits the alarm. Another day. QUICK CUTS -- Dave throws on a faded t-shirt, black hoodie, Chuck Taylors. Tall and gawky, on further review he's actually inconspicuously handsome. ON HIS WALLS - NIKOLA TESLA and ALBERT EINSTAIN take their place alongside GOLDFRAPP, THE RACONTEURS, BUDDY HOLLY. Dave opens a drawer to grab his watch. THE RING is there, but Dave stopped noticing it long ago. He exits without it. INT. DAVE'S APARTMENT – KITCHEN – CONTINUOUS Dave cradles the phone as he fishes a chunk of pop-tart from a glass of strawberry Quik. DAVE Of course I'm eating healthy, Mom. He glances at the T.V., reaches for his umbrella. A MASSIVE STORM FRONT is converging on New York. INT. SUBWAY TRAIN (MOVING) – DAY Dave scribbled PHYSICS EQUATIONS in a notebook, his backpack sitting on his lap. The car has few RIDERS. A STREET THUG -- suddenly appears in the aisle, lifts his shirt to reveal the butt of a GUN gleaming in his waistband. STREET THUG All right, listen up! Gimme your cash and you won't get hurt! The thug moves up the aisle, grabbing cash from shaken RIDERS. The ELDERLY LADY next to Dave is terrified. So is Dave. STREET THUG Hand it over! Dave looks up, sees the thug eyeing his ring. DAVE Oh, believe me, you don't want to -- STREET THUG You tryin' to be a hero?! Dave hands the ring over. DAVE Me?! No way! EXT. SUBWAY PLATFORM - CONTINUOUS The doors open and the thug takes off down the platform. BACK AT THE DOORS -- Dave, the elderly lady and the other riders step off the train to watch the fleeing thug. ELDERLY LADY Fifty-two years I had that ring. Now it's gone forever. DAVE Oh... you never know. The elderly lady shoots him a puzzled look. FURTHER DOWN THE PLATFORM -- The thug has almost made it to the stairs when -- WHOOM! The thug is jerked up into the air and backward, as if an invisible chain has reached its length, then he is SLAMMED onto the platform on his back. DAVE'S RING -- flies out of the thug's hand. WE ROLL WITH THE RING, all the way down the platform, until it finally comes to a stop..... Right between Dave's feet. He picks up the ring, sighs as he dops it in his pocket. The elderly lady's ring has landed nearby. Dave picks it up and hands it to her. DAVE You have a wonderful day. The elderly lady stares in shock as Dave walks off and heads up the stairs toward -- EXT. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY – CONTINUOUS It's POURING on the 4th Street: THUNDER, LIGHTNING, the works. STUDENTS run for cover as Dave opens his umbrella and heads for the SCIENCE BUILDING. He's about to go inside when -- A GORGEUS GIRL (20) comes running out, getting drenched. She runs under Dave's umbrella, catching him off guard. DAVE Whoa! The girl LAUGHS. Dark hair, vintage Kinks t-shirt, plaid mini over black tights, it takes Dave all of one second to realize -- IT'S BECKY. BECKY Hey, I'm going to the communications building. Dave walks right past the science building door. DAVE No way. Me, too. KEN (O.S.) Dave, where are you going? Dave turns around to see his classmate KEN CHIN (21). Dave smiles nervously. KEN Lab starts in like, five minutes. DAVE Uh -- what are you talking about? KEN What are you talking about? Hellman wants our proofs by Tuesday. Our entire grade's on the line. DAVE Sorry, I'm going to the communications building. I've got -- connections. Dave glares at Ken, scoots Becky on ahead. Becky looks at him more closely now. BECKY Dave... Dave... wait a minute, we went to grade school together. You're that Dave. DAVE (nods weakly) Becky, right? BECKY You transferred after fourth grade. You were the kid, that whole -- DAVE Arcana Cabana. BECKY -- Arcana Cabana thing, right. Boy, that was weird. Dave nods at the understatement of the century. DAVE Little bit. It was a little weird. BECKY Wow, I haven't seen you in years. DAVE Actually, we saw each other in high school, at parties and stuff. (off her blank look) You were mingling, you prob'ly don't remember -- BECKY No, no, I do... oh, hey, this is me. They're in front of the COMMUNICATIONS BUILDING, a side door marked "RADIO STATION PERSONNEL". Dave smiles. DAVE You work at the radio station? That's awesome, I always wanted to check it out up there. Awkward beat. Dave is smiling but not moving. BECKY You... wanna come up? DAVE (like it's her idea) Really? INT. CITY IMPOUND – DAY Lightning flashes outside the dirty windows, illuminating CITY HALL across the street. We're in a dingy room where a seen-it-all AUCTIONEER faces an eclectic mix of BIDDERS. AUCTIONEER Okay, folks, next up... this junk. THE ARTIFACTS FROM BALTHAZAR'S SHOP -- are arrayed on long tables on either side of the podium. AUCTIONEER These items were impounded by the city and the statutory holding period has now expired. And so, without further ado, Item One, this... thing. A CITY EMPLOYEE hoists up an EXPRESSIONISTIC URN -- The one Balthazar warned Dave not to touch. IN THE AUDIENCE -- An eccentric-looking RICH WOMAN leans in to her BORED HUSBAND. RICH WOMAN That would make a lovely planter for the foyer. The husband rolls his eyes, buries his head in the paper. INT. COLLEGE RADIO STATION – DAY Becky and Dave sit in the small, dark D.J. BOOTH of WNYU, its walls covered with eclectic album covers from JOHN COLTRANE to GNARLS BARKLEY to RADIOHEAD. Becky has headphones, speaks into a mic: BECKY ...off the U.K. version of their L.P. "Bridging the Gap", here's Black Eyed Peas with "Magic." Becky drops the needle of a VINYL L.P. and flips off her mic. Dave smiles as the MUSIC BEGINS, a funky, unexpectedly romantic reworking of "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." DAVE I can't believe you're Dr. Vinyl. I listen to you all the time... Dave trails off as he sees Becky with her eyes closed, listening in a state of near rapture. Dave looks on, falling in love with her all over again... Becky opens her eyes, watches the L.P. spinning, smiles at the walls of music that surround her. BECKY If somebody told me I had an hour left to live, this is how I'd want to spend it, right here. Suddenly the MUSIC GOES DEAD and the LIGHTS GO OUT. BECKY Only I'd pay the power bill. The lights flicker, come back on. Still no audio. Becky's producer, the too-cool ANDRE (20), pokes his head in. ANDRE Something's up with the antenna and the engineer's out sick. Becky slumps in her chair. Doing this shows is her world. DAVE Where'd he keeps his equipment? INT. TRANSMITTER ROOM – MOMENTS LATER The narrow room is packed to the ceiling with transmitter panels, circuit boards, etc. Becky looks on as Dave plugs a handheld SPECTRUM ANALYZER into an antenna port. Andre is just outside, looking on with a tinge of jealousy. DAVE Your return-loss is too high, prob'ly because of a lightning strike. Not a direct hit, 'cause you're still transmitting, but close enough to mess up your signal. BECKY How do you know this stuff? DAVE I'm a physics major. I'm doing a project on transducers. BECKY Uhh, no hablo physics. DAVE Oh, sorry. It's a device that converts one form of energy into another. It's what an antenna does. It takes electrical energy from your transmitter and converts it into electromagnetic energy in the form of radio waves. (smiles) Am I geeking you out? BECKY (nods) Little bit. Dave goes to the TRANSMITTER DECK, starts adjusting knobs. DAVE We just have to re-tune the transmitter... increase your gain just a bit... MUSIC fills the room, the entire studio. Becky smiles. BECKY Let's just get you a cape and a big "D" on your shirt. ANDRE Yeah, for "dork". Becky starts to laugh, catches herself. She glares at Andre as Dave smiles tightly. So much for his superhero moment. BECKY So, Dave, I should prob'ly get back to the show. DAVE Yeah, sure, absolutely... Dave watches Becky as she heads for the booth. DAVE Hey, maybe after you're done we could grab some coffee or -- BECKY Actually... I'm kind of busy tonight. Andre shoots Dave a sly, triumphant grin. Dave nods to Becky, walks out shaking his hand. DAVE Transducers. Way to go, Dave. EXT. LUXURY HIGH RISE – NIGHT RICH WOMAN (PRELAP) Is the crowbar really necessary? INT. PENTHOUSE – NIGHT In an art-filled penthouse, the RICH COUPLE from the auction look on as a sweating, out-of-breath DOORMAN wedges a crowbar under the urn's lid. The couple is dressed for a night out. DOORMAN Ma'am, I've been working on this lid for an hour. If you want this thing open... The woman looks to her husband, who taps his watch impatiently. She turns back to the doorman. RICH WOMAN Lock the door when you leave, George. And please... try not to scratch the enamel. DOORMAN I don't think a blowtorch could hurt this old pot, ma'am. The couple exits, shutting the door behind them. The doorman strains mightily, puts his considerable weight on the bar. DOORMAN "Try not to scratch the enamel." Scratch this, ya rich -- BOOM! Suddenly the lid is BLOW OFF and -- VOOOSHHH!!! A violent GUST knocks the doorman back as the urn's lid SLAMS into the ceiling, then down onto his head. DOORMAN Agghh! The doorman doubles over, holding his head as a PLUME OF BLACK FLAME shoots up out of the urn, then a billowing black MUSHROOM CLOUD. A DARK FIGURE -- is hunched on the floor, clothes smoldering amid the strange BLACK SAND CRYSTALS that SIZZLE on the floor around him. As the figure looks slowly up: MAXIM HORVATH That... SUCKED. The doorman faints, falls with a WHUMP. Horvath hasn't aged a day. He stands, looks around, sees THE URN still smoking on the table. Horvath grins. OUT ON THE BALCONY -- We're 50 stories above midtown. Horvath hoists the urn over his head... MAXIM HORVATH So long, Blake. I'll tell the kid you said hello. ...then he lets it drop. Horvath watches the urn plummet, smiles and heads back inside. WE FALL WITH THE URN -- as the street rushes up to meet us. The urn tumbles down, down, down along the side of the building -- VOOOSHHH!!! A DARK FIGURE blasts out of the urn amid a tongue of BLACK FLAME, reaches out for a BALCONY RAILING -- BALTHAZAR Unnnfff!!! Balthazar hangs on as the urn SHATTTERS on the sidewalk, just missing the PEDESTRIANS who now look up to see -- NO ONE. INT. APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS A fancy COCKTAIL PARTY. Heads spin as THE SORCERER walks in from the balcony, wiping SMOKING BLACK SAND off his coat. BALTHAZAR How's it goin'? A STUNNED MAN drops a COCKTAIL SHRIMP on his plate. Balthazar snags the shrimp on his way out of the door. EXT. LUXURY HIGH RISE – NIGHT A FOG has rolled in as Balthazar runs out to the street, searching for a quick way out of here. He cranes his neck up the building across the street, TO REVEAL -- THE CHRYSLER BUILDING -- and one of the magnificent ART-DECO GARGOYLES that had so captured young Dave's imagination -- a fierce-looking STEEL EAGLE. INT. CHRYSLER BLDG. – 60TH FLOOR – NIGHT PING! A CLEANING LADY exits the elevator pushing a cart. The floor is dark, the shadows pierced only by FLASHES OF LIGHTNING that flicker in the windows. A strange CLATTERING SOUND draws the cleaning lady to -- INT. EMPTY OFFICE – CONTINUOUS The office is dark. The CLATTERING is being caused by the blinda blowing back ane forth in an open window. RAINDROPS are starting to fall on the window sill. Puzzled and a bit spooked, the cleaning lady goes over to the window, pulls the string to raise the blinds. She peers out the window. There's something out there in rain and fog. Something big... LIGHTING FLASH! THE CHRYSLER EAGLE -- terrifying and terrific, hovers in mid-air, raindrops splattering across its magnificent steel wings. The cleaning lady SCREAMS and runs out of the office. CLEANING LADY ¡Ayyyyyyy! ¡Es un demonio! The eagle's eyes are agkow as Balthazar sits astride it and SNAPS the "reins" -- A THICK STEEL CHAIN. BALTHAZAR (shakes his head) Hechicero. Sorcerer. A sight we'll never forget. The eagle rears back, makes a big arching turn, and flies off into the foggy night... 60 STORIES DOWN -- A LITTLE BOY in a rain slicker looks up as the moonlight cuts through the fog, shines on the eagle. BOY Mom, look! The soak, annoyed MOM looks up. The eagle is gone. MOM Yes, dear. We call that "fog". Category:Scrapped Contents